The Monaghan jig

X: 1
T: The Monaghan
R: jig

X: 2
T: The Monaghan
R: jig

X: 3
T: The Monaghan
R: jig

X: 4
T: The Monaghan
R: jig

X: 5
T: The Monaghan
R: jig

X: 6
T: The Monaghan
R: jig

X: 7
T: The Monaghan
R: jig

X: 8
T: The Monaghan
R: jig

M: 6/8
L: 1/8
K: Emin
|:BGE E2e|BGE FGA|BGE E2d|AFD FGA|
BGE E2e|BGE FGA|1d^cd ABG|FDF AFA:|2d^cB ABG|FDF AFD||
|:EGB efg|fe^d e2F|EGB eBG|FDF AFD|
EGB efg|fdf e^ce|1dcB ABG|FDF AFD:|2d^cd ABG|FDF AFA||
|:g2e efe|geg bge|g2e efg|fdf agf|
g2e efe|geg bge|1d^cd ABG|FDF AFA:|2d^cB ABG|FDF AFD||
|:EGB eBG|BGE FGF|EGB eBG|FDF AGF|
EGB GBe|Beg egb|fed ABG|1FDF AGF:|2FED D3||

X: 9
T: The Monaghan
R: jig

X: 10
T: The Monaghan
R: jig

Twenty-two comments

Whoever thought Monaghan could be such a sinister-sounding place? This is one of those moody, E minor tunes.

As with most multi-part tunes, a lot of the phrases show up in each part. Notice how the end of each part is exactly the same. Once you’ve got that phrase mastered you can throw in some variation by holding the D note longer.

Quite often, this jig is played with just the first three parts, but that last part is the best of all. Unfortunately, it’s also the toughest. Take it nice and slow at first; it’ll pay off in the end.

Moody?

For me this is a foot stomper. I love playing this tune - it’s been in my repertoire forever and I never get tired of it. I think I first heard it being played as a whistle duet, back in the early 80s, by Phil Smillie and Alan MacLeod of the Tannahill Weavers. Don’t know if they ever recorded it, but I was certainly inspired to go and learn it "properly".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTFg_rx1tUY I like this version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2n08xKm45MM

Wicked Good

Usually taken to mean ‘evil’, the word ‘wicked’ pretty much describes the Monaghan. Then again, for us New Englanders, ‘Wicked’ also means ‘Cool’, or, it can be an adverb meaning ‘very’. Monaghan is wicked good,even more so if you go heavy on the downbeats up and down the scales. For fiddle, the O’Neil’s version is a workout. If you are going through with the D part (as listed in O’Neil’s), try it as a "last time through" only addition to the ABC parts, tacking it on to close a set. Gliss up to an octave above open E at the end, then pizz the string with your fourth finger. Sounds very sly and, well, wicked good. I can’t advise transitioning back into the A part once you have survived the D… Hard to recover!

Moody Monaghan

Monaghan: drumlin country, think of the ‘stony grey fields’ of Patrick Kavanagh - rushy hollows and wee lakes. Border country, dark secrets - think of Patrick McCabe and The Butcher Boy etc.

Anyway I was learning this off Mary Bergin’s recording. I think she plays the fourth part rather different to version here, more like:
EGB eBG BGE F2F e2G BGE F3~ AFD EGB GBd Beg egb fed ABG FDF AGF
very nice

monaghan jig

While playing the `Monaghan jig´ (O´Neill 1001, # 245) in medium tempo yesterday, I found its melody to be very close to the Scottish Jacobite song `Donald Mc Gillivray´ as sung by Ewan McColl on his early 70s (?) recording of `Songs of two rebellions´ . Anybody who knows anything about a possible connection here ?

Re: monaghan jig

There may have been a connection but I think it’s unlikely. Donald MacGillvary is in 4/4 for a start. Great song and a great tune though.

Re: monaghan jig

Re: monaghan jig

Nothing would surprise me about Mr MaColl……having the only extant tune for Eppie Morrie is just the start……yeah, right.

Monaghan jig

I love the version that Darrach MacMathúna played with Gerard Coughlan….

http://comhaltas.ie/music/detail/comhaltaslive_265_4_gerard_coughlan_and_darrach_macmathuna/

dunno if its different from the version here… but just thought i’d share 🙂

Monaghan Jig

Sorry, I meant, I can’t imagine playing it without the FOURTH part, not first.

"The Monaghan Jig" ~ a rescued duplication

The Monaghan Jig

Patsy Touhey’s piping version of the tune, which was recorded in the very early part of the last century, includes the fourth part.

See: http://archives.irishfest.com/dunn-family-collection/Music/Cylinders1.htm

Niel Gow’s Monaghan

The Monaghan, X:7

This tune appears in P.W. Joyce’s Old Irish Music and Songs (1909), p. 349-350, no. 698, as Cock up your Chin Billy.
According to the Fiddler’s Companion, it is also known as Clay Pipe and The Monaghan.

The Monaghan, X:8

As Jeremy said in his initial post, a sinister tune, and one which I often think wouldn’t be out of place in a horror movie. This setting appears as "Clay Pipe" in the Traditional Tune Archive, and adds even more macabre with some d#s and c#s.

The Monaghan Jig - Tin Whistle version

The Monaghan, X:10

I played in a band that would play this tune sometimes using this setting. It kinda stuck with me so I thought I would add it to the mix!

Re: The Monaghan - C# or C natural?

Why the difference? A regional thing maybe?

Re: The Monaghan

I made a piano and low whistle arrangement for this tune which I think turned out quite nicely. https://youtu.be/NPquUNaUcL0

Re: The Monaghan

Here’s a version played by Andy McGann and Paul Brady:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkGZsUtMVQk